The 3 questions facing Kentucky football in preseason camp

UK coach Mark Stoops said at SEC Media Days he can't worry about where people are picking his team in 2018.
Jon Hale, Louisville Courier Journal

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UK QB Gunnar Hoak hands the ball off to RB Asim "A.J." Rose during the University of Kentucky spring football Blue-White scrimmage in Lexington, KY on Friday, April 13, 2018. (Photo: Mike Weaver/Special to CJ)Buy Photo

LEXINGTON, Ky. – As Mark Stoops opens his sixth preseason camp as Kentucky football’s coach next week, a veteran-laden roster translates to fewer August questions that he has become accustomed to in Lexington.

But the remaining answers Stoops will need to find in camp are significant ones.

Here is a look at three questions Kentucky must answer before the Sept. 1 opener against Central Michigan.

Who is the starting quarterback?

Yes, concerns about Kentucky’s ongoing quarterback competition should be somewhat eased by the veteran talent around the position, especially with star junior Benny Snell in the backfield, NFL draft prospect C.J. Conrad at tight end and four of five offensive line starters returning. But if a competent No. 1 quarterback does not emerge in camp, the first month of the season becomes much more difficult.

Picking a quarterback is all the more important considering the contrasting styles of leading candidates Gunnar Hoak and Terry Wilson. Hoak is probably the better passer and a more traditional pocket passer. Wilson is a dynamic dual-threat athlete who might be able to overcome any deficiencies with his scrambling ability.

Offensive coordinator Eddie Gran and quarterbacks coach Darin Hinshaw should be applauded for altering the pass-heavy offense they ran at Cincinnati to better fit Kentucky’s roster the last two years, but they will need to pick a quarterback to determine which path to follow in 2018.

It is probably fair to expect either quarterback to improve the offense’s passing numbers from 2017, when quarterback Stephen Johnson threw just one passing touchdown in the final seven games, but it is unlikely either option will be able to match Johnson’s calming presence and leadership immediately. No quarterback on the roster has taken a snap in an FBS game, so Snell, Conrad and the offensive line will need to carry a larger leadership burden.

Which receivers are ready to step up?

For any UK quarterback to succeed as the starter this year, he will need more help from his wide receivers.

The return of senior Dorian Baker from an ankle injury that cost him the entire 2017 season should help, but it’s been two years since he led the team in catches as a sophomore. Junior Tavin Richardson came on strong down the stretch last season, but some of the momentum of his five catches for 89 yards in the Music City Bowl was lost when a possible game-winning two-point conversion pass bounced off his hands with 37 seconds remaining.

Sophomore Lynn Bowden is probably the most dynamic playmaker on the roster, but caught just 17 passes a year ago while playing wide receiver full-time for the first time. His classmates, Josh Ali, Isaiah Epps and Clevan Thomas, combined for just eight receptions as freshmen.

At least a couple of those returning wide receivers will need to take major steps forward in camp or risk being passed by a group of five new scholarship players at the position, including former Iowa basketball player Ahmad Wagner. There is enough depth at tight end to alleviate some concerns about thinness at the slot receiver positions, but predicting an active role in the passing game for UK tight ends has been fool’s gold for much of the last decade.

Is there reason to worry about the kicking game?

Only three of Kentucky’s 14 wins over the last two seasons have come by more than two scores, and the presence of Austin MacGinnis, arguably the best kicker in program history, was often a nice security blanket for Stoops in those close games.

The UK coaching staff will likely feel far less confident about the kicking game entering camp with MacGinnis gone and freshman Chance Poore and walk-on Miles Butler competing to be his replacement. Poore was ranked as the No. 1 kicker/punter in the Class of 2019 by ProKicker.com and Butler is 4 for 4 on field goals and 11 for 12 on PATs in his career, but neither kicker has the track record of success in close games that MacGinnis did.

The punting situation is just as in flux with former professional Australian Rules Football player Max Duffy the favorite to succeed Matt Panton. Former starter Grant McKinniss also returns, but he lost the job in 2017 after struggling with inconsistency throughout his freshman year.

Perhaps 2018 signees Poore and Duffy capture the starting jobs in camp and quickly develop into the next in a long line of productive UK kickers and punters, but the next month will be key in teaching Stoops how much he will be able to rely on special teams early in the season.